Finding Good Healthcare

I hate it when my kids get sick. And not for the usual reasons - the whining, the crying, the demands. And that's just from my husband, whom I think has a harder time dealing with sick kids than the actual ailing children. (Sorry, babe, but you know it's true. I still love you!) No, the problem we have when the kids fall ill is finding adequate healthcare.

I'm not sure if it is just part of our American culture - this desire to have everything right away, everything at our fingertips - or truly just a parent's need to care for their kids, but when it comes to our healthcare system, well, it sucks and always lets us down. I suppose we don't really have anyone to blame but ourselves but when it comes to actually trying to get well, we have done nothing but make it more difficult on ourselves.

Friday afternoon my oldest daughter came home sick with a really bad headache. I was concerned she had her first migraine, considering they run in the family, but after getting her home and making her comfortable I determined it was just a really bad sinus headache. My husband was concerned it may be the beginnings of a sinus infection and asked me to take her in to see a doctor. I disagreed with his opinion but went ahead anyway. That's marriage, right?

I arrived at a Walgreens Healthcare Clinic shortly after noon that day. I started to sign in for an appointment, because they only accept walk-ins, and a woman appeared from a doorway and told me to come after 2 because they were no longer accepting patients for the morning and they were going to lunch from 1 to 2. There was no "Hi", "Hello", "I'm sorry, but..." I replied that a sign would be nice so patients would know to seek medical attention elsewhere.

Now, I guess I can see how perhaps I was not as polite a customer as I could have been. However, whatever happened to the "customer is always right" mantra? I was polite, if a bit sarcastic, and was already walking away. But here I was with a kid sick, who was missing school, I was missing work (sort of) and I was trying to sign in to receive healthcare and all I hear is, "Come back later." So, yeah, a sign would have been nice. This conversation should have stopped there. But the young woman who told me to go away continued it. She said, "Regardless, you need to come back after 2."

So now I'm feeling that I don't really want your service anyway. I replied, "Well, regardless you should really post a sign somewhere," and continued to leave. She tried to get the last word in and called after me that their lunch hours were posted on the website. "No. They aren't," I replied with complete confidence and left.

And they are not. Walgreens #4696 states on its site "Walk-in always welcome! We may stop accepting new patients before closing due to high patient volume. The clinic closes for 1 hr M-F and 45 Sat-Sun. Times may vary." So I think there might be a flaw in your system. Plus a sign might still be nice.

The next closest Walgreens clinic happens to be one that accepts appointments. But they were full for the day. Of course. So we decided to come home and old-school it. Ibuprofen, Benadryl and a nap. And if she was feeling better we were going to go to Galveston for the weekend (which we did and had a spectacular time).

On Sunday, both of my daughters began to complain about ear pain. Great. We had just spent a fabulous weekend in Galveston, having a little fun in the sun, and now my two best girls were feeling under the weather. What was a mother to do?

Monday morning rolled around and we decided to keep them home from school. We also tried (again) to get them into a doctor. This time we tried the MediStop Clinic down the road from our house and a CVS Minute Clinic.

The MediStop Clinic was supposed to open at 9 am. We arrived at 9:05. It was closed.

So we drove down to the CVS Minute Clinic. We signed into their system and discovered that we would have about an hour and a half wait. We had to leave, though, because I had a cardiologist appointment that day, too, and couldn't be two places at one time. Sorry about that. The flaw in their system is that we couldn't find a way to cancel the appointment once it was made. We drove by the MediStop Clinic on the way home, hoping maybe, just maybe, it was open and they could squeeze the girls in. But no. They never even opened their doors and by now it was at least 10 am. So I obviously don't recommend going there.

We spent yesterday feeding the girls over the counter drugs, teaching them how to swallow pills for the first time and praying they would be well enough to go to school today. No such luck.

Today I sucked it up, went to a different CVS, because I stood the other guys up and didn't want to be recognized, and waited at the store for the full hour and a half for our appointment. What was the verdict you ask? One kid has an ear infection and the other is suffering from seasonal allergies. Well, at least they'll be better soon.

Through all of this I'm sure you're asking, "Why didn't she just go to her regular doctor?" Well, I'll tell you why not. Because the family practitioner we used to go to now only practices in Houston. And I'm not going to drive an hour to get to his office only to wait another hour or two just to see him for ten minutes and then drive an hour home. The one before that is no longer on our insurance. Thanks United! Another great decision you made on our behalf! And as much as I absolutely adore my pediatrician, I can never get a same day appointment with her anymore, she is that much in demand. We've been with her for 14 years and she has never steered us wrong, but it is so hard to get in to see her anymore.

I think that's the worst part of all of this. I love my regular doctors. Well, I used to, before I could no longer see them. So now not only am I stuck with only going to these stand alone clinics, I am stuck with crappy customer service, long waits, closed offices and unreliable hours to go along with them. And all for what? Because we wanted convenience at the tips of our fingers? Well, we got it! There are clinics everywhere offering fast, affordable and easy healthcare. But has any of this sounded very convenient to you?

Free Summer 2014

I found out earlier this month that my wonderful neighborhood Home Owners Association has finally decided to remodel our pool. Isn't that great? The problem is, the work is starting now. At the start of swim season. Wasn't that nice of them? If you're like me, and I'm sure many of you are, local attractions (especially free ones) are the ones you need to rely on during the long summer months. So what's a family to do?

In my area, I found two theaters that have kid friendly movie programs for the summer. Carmike Cinemas is offering $4 seats every Thursday at 10 am starting on June 5. The $4 admission includes a small drink and a small popcorn. My particular theater is showing movies like The Lego Movie, Epic, Despicable Me 2, Rio, and The Croods. Check your local theater to see what they are showing this summer. Cinemark is offering ten movies for $5 if you purchase tickets in advance or one movie for $1 at the door. My particular theater is showing films like The Smurfs 2, Turbo, Mr. Peabody and Sherman, and Walking With Dinosaurs. Check your local listings for movies and show times.

How about bowling? Check out kidsbowlfree.com for a list of bowling alleys that are participating in this summer's first ever program to help give kids a fun and safe way to spend the hot summer months. Parents can register with their local bowling alley and give their kids two free games of bowling every day. AMF has had a similar program for the last few years offering three free games to kiddos aged 15 years and younger. So I guess it is just a matter of who is closer to you.

Reading programs are a great way to keep your kids reading this summer and some reading programs help your child earn free books and even some pocket change for their efforts. Barnes & Noble will reward kids ages 6-12 with a free book after they read eight books and turn in their reading journal to participating stores. Feed Your Brain is Half Price Book's summer reading program. Kids 14 and under can add up their reading minutes and turn in a log to earn $5 in bookworm bucks. Sylvan Learning Center has a free, interactive way to encourage kids to read by quizzing them on what they've read and giving them the opportunity to earn prizes in the process. I also you recommend you check out PBS, home of Reading Rainbow, to learn how to raise an enthusiastic reader. I firmly believe in the power of literacy.

And finally, Chuck E. Cheese wants to reward your kids for their good behavior.You can print off and bring in completed chore sheets to participating restaurants for 10 free game tokens.

As always there is the public library, community centers, the beach, bbq's and the ever popular chore list(!) to complete. I have a feeling my yard and house will never be cleaner without that silly pool to distract me this summer. In fact, I may have my kids read up on gardening and redecorating tips to get them started...